


A Favor

by Cinnp



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-05
Updated: 2013-08-05
Packaged: 2017-12-22 13:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnp/pseuds/Cinnp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And thus, the cat was bested by the mouse, the mouse saw some good in the world, and the sun came up to greet the world for another day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Favor

The first time they met, there had been bars between them. Levi was nothing short of a legend at that point — the only criminal to consistently escape the Military police for five years straight. Looking at him then, Erwin even had his doubts that they had the right prisoner; after all, the tiny and seemingly frail boy before him certainly didn’t look like he posed much of a threat. The brunette’s hair was messy, and his clothes were practically hanging off his body. He had eyes like daggers and his face implied he had received a beating before being apprehended. 

Erwin didn’t believe in fighting those who clearly had no chance at winning, but he couldn’t control the other’s in the military. He had been specifically assigned to watch over Levi for the time before an execution could be scheduled because he was, quite simply, the biggest and baddest soldier that they had. Scouting missions would simply have to do without their ace for a short time.

Clearing his throat, he approached the cell that held the smaller man — if he could even be called one — with a tray of food. He offered an awkward smile as a gesture of neutrality; even if he was a criminal, he didn’t look too threatening. He had his suspicions of a framing at hand, but it would all come to light in court, he supposed. In the three days he had been watching over the prisoner he had yet to eat or say a word, so Erwin tried something different instead. That day he entered the cell to deliver the meal personally to the seemingly placid condemned man; a mistake he would soon regret.

Even without energy to run on, Levi had gotten his status from something. Erwin had underestimated the facts in the face of present sense impression and that had gained him a swift kick to his stomach. Doubled over, the small hands of the criminal pressed on his shoulders to bring his face down into a knee, all finished by his feet being kicked out from underneath him. Of course, Erwin hadn’t come to the dungeon alone and soon there were two other men gaping at the sight of a dizzied soldier and a small and unimposing man pressing a fork to his throat. 

"You can grab me if you want, but I don’t promise not to splash this shit’s blood all over this room."

It was the first time Erwin Smith had ever heard Levi speak, and it was not at all how he would have imagined. His mother had taught him to never judge a book by its cover, but nobody could have really expected what was beneath the criminals cover. He was trained to kill Titans, and he had, of course, learned hand-to-hand in training; but he simply was no match for this man who had dropped him in a minute flat. His blue eyes met the narrow grey ones that glared at him, and he raised his hands in surrender. His pride was hurt, but he had been bested.

Levi’s fist curled around the collar of his shirt, roughly tugging him upward and keeping him bent over awkwardly enough to keep the utensil pressed to his throat. Their eyes remained locked, deadset on one another as the other two soldiers were unable to intercede. If the shorter of the two had so willed it, that could have been the end of the future commander of the Scouting Legion — bested by man, not beast; but he did nothing beyond roughly jerking him toward the exit of the cell. The food laid scattered across the floor, forgotten, and Levi returned to his spot in the corner, keeping the fork for reassurance. Though it wasn’t deadly by itself, he had proven that in the hands of a human weapon, anything could be improvised — thus, all three men of the court refrained from leering too close. 

The cell door swung shut and Erwin placed a hand over his throat. Levi had the chance to kill him within his hands, but he had refrained — something he couldn’t understand at the time. Instead, he withdrew back into his quiet and guarded world, leaving the blonde to ponder his drives and motivations. He didn’t owe the criminal any great debt, since he had only been trying to extend a friendly gesture in the first place, but it did change his perspective of the captive. He wasn’t someone who needed pity, but he still didn’t seem like someone great and evil as the bounty on his head might prove. 

That night, Erwin questioned his line of order and asked about Levi’s crimes.

"Theft, mostly. He’s stolen from the King’s personal reserves as well as several respectable merchants. We don’t have concrete proof, but speculation places him at the scene of several illegal street fighting rings and he’s repeatedly attacked the servants of humanity. You included."

He hadn’t any reason to question his superiors — in fact, ever fiber of his mind that had been shaped by his training advised against it, but the look in those eyes hadn’t left his mind all day. There was something there, though he wasn’t quite sure what — but something that didn’t add up.

The next morning, Erwin was at the bars before the sun had come up. By some chance fate, he had managed to catch the fugitive asleep — something he had yet to see him do, and in that moment he looked harmless. He didn’t have venom in his eyes and his muscles were relaxed for once. Kneeling down, he leaned close to the iron divider to examine him from a distance, watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest. This man wasn’t evil; a criminal, perhaps, but certainly he was no person deserving to die in a few days time.

"I’m sorry," Erwin whispered, unable to offer more.

"Can’t I even sleep in peace?" Levi growled, stirred by even that quiet sound. Erwin knew that tendency as the mark of someone who was at constant risk of death — common among soldiers. He supposed it could apply to fugitives too, though he had never took the time to think about it. They were trained to deal with Titans, not people. Standing straight, he assumed his military posture as the other was roused out of his reclining position.

"Why’d you let yourself get turned in?" 

Levi snorted.

"That’s not something you can understand."

Erwin frowned.

"You attacked me yesterday so I wouldn’t pity you, not to hurt me. I might understand more than you think."

Levi looked at him then, long and hard, as if examining him right back, and suddenly Erwin felt like he was the one behind bars. To be looked at like a animal was an uncomfortable fate — he could only imagine how the brunette must have felt in the past half a week. He withstood it though, eyes and expression unwavered by the discomfort.

"Bounties run a pretty penny these days," he said simply.

Oh. Oh. Oh. 

They had been played from the very start. They hadn’t caught Levi, he had been brought to them by some man who had found him “stealing" from his back room. He should have seen it sooner — a man who fought like a monster wouldn’t have been apprehended so easily, let alone sit quietly while he was brought to be judged and killed. 

He was good. 

"You’re going to escape, aren’t you?"

Levi nodded. 

"Are you going to try to stop me?"

Erwin thought for a moment.

"Would it do me any good?"

A smirk graced the ever frowning lips, “Not a chance."

Taking a step forward, Erwin reached an arm through the bars. “I imagine it’ll go something along the lines of the criminal surrendering the weapon he took the day before, and tricking the soldier into reaching between the bars." Levi stepped forward, eyeing him carefully. 

"After which, the dangerous criminal would, of course, do whatever it took to grab the keys from the soldier’s belt. He’d be no match for the skills of the criminal, but he’d try, surely, all in vain." Levi’s face didn’t change at the other’s obvious treason, and he only seized the wrist offered toward him to pull him forward and ram his head into the bars. Snatching the keys from the gear on his waist, the brunette quickly unlocked the cell and shoved Erwin back into the wall, roughing him up just enough.

"And the name of the useless soldier?" he asked, raking a foot across the defined cheek of one of the king’s men.

"Erwin Smith," he answered without fail, letting his face be beaten to a believable black and blue. Sinking down to the ground for the sake of show, he pointed to the left.

"And the criminal would escape down the left passage — by dumb luck, of course. The night guards just happened to have fallen asleep on their shift."

Levi never said thank you for Erwin’s defiance of order, but as he rocketed down the hallway back to his creed and life of crime he did stop to say, “I owe you one, Erwin Smith," before he disappeared into the night.

And thus, the cat was bested by the mouse, the mouse saw some good in the world, and the sun came up to greet the world for another day.


End file.
